Monolith, conventions, and you

09/08/11

Conventions are great experiences for everyone. For the attendees, it’s an opportunity to (potentially) experience a city they’ve never been to before, get some hands-on time with hotly anticipated titles, and interact with the people responsible for their favorite games. For companies, it’s an excellent chance to get themselves in the public eye and put their games in the hands of the very people they’re making them for. But for the actual game designers, it can be a very observational experience.

Fumigation in Gotham City Impostors is a tug-of-war game mode that requires your team to hold down as many of the map’s control nodes as possible in order to secure victory. The game mode, while straightforward, wasn’t perfect, and thanks to the observations made by our keen-eyed developers, nodes that had yet to be captured by your team previously said “Attack” above them. In the fray of battle often players would get wrapped up in killing everything they see, and end up dumping a couple clips into the gas blasters as well. We’ve now changed them to reflect the true intent of their presence and they say “Capture”.

Is it a small change? Yes, absolutely. Is it insignificant? Not even a little bit. If it’s something we can do that fundamentally changes the nature of the game for the better, then we’ll make it happen, often by sitting, waiting, and watching. So know that if you’re playing a game at a convention it’s a win-win. You’re actively making the game better in the end, and you’re getting some special, early hands-on time with a game that you’re excited about!